While this doesn't have the most sophisticated prose, te plot is unusual and engaging with the sort  creepiness you'd expect from a gothic novel and the emotional conflict and questioning found in the best dystopian novels. The characters were sufficiently well developed and the 'master' was epically disturbing. This book was a pleasant surprise for me. I look forward to seeing how things develop in book 2.

The premises of Boundary is a familiar one. Penny and her friends live a sheltered, yet luxurious life, but there is something sinister at work that is triggered by a brash decision on Penny's part. I found myself rather conflicted about some parts of this book, but I will start with the good. 

While the premises feels familiar and and seems to have elements from other YA novels, it is executed in a creative way. There are nice plot twists and turns throughout and for the most part, the writing is nice and the writer has her own style which I did enjoy reading. I did feel like the writing felt more like that of an older children's book as opposed to a typical YA book. The characters seemed much younger than the 15 that there were supposed to be so I had a hard time comparing it to other YA books, as they seemed like there were closer to 11 or 12. The book was pretty clean and did not involve anything sexual and language was minimal- I believe only d*** was used. 

A few things that could have been improved upon: 

There were definitely some editing issues: Misspellings, words flipped, and minor details. However, I feel it worth mentioning if I notice more than a few, which I did here. Some of the author's writing also felt a bit awkward and wordy. I'm also a wordy person so I certainly understand, but there where parts where the "less is more" philosophy was obvious, even to me. 

The characters seemed a bit lacking. Most of the characters seem a bit lacking in depth and development. With exception to a few, they were relatively static. I also felt like the ages seemed quite off. It has been 10 years, so I don't perfectly remember being 15, but I found it odd that only two characters in the book seemed to have any romantic feelings and that they were so interested in hide-and-seek. Perhaps it was the sheltered lifestyle they had prior to that point, but it just felt a little odd. However, for those who do not care for love stories added into mysteries, the lack of an engaging romance is probably a plus! 

The beginning of the book was very SLOW. I found it kind of boring until about 1/3 of the way through, but it started to get a lot better after that so I would recommend continuing it if started, because it really does improve greatly. I easily finished the book within a day as I keep reading to find out what happens. Some parts felt a bit redundant- like mentioning how bad the food tastes....over and over and over and over and over and over again. I get that she was probably just trying to be descriptive, but it goes back to the "less is more" concept again. 

All in all, it was a pretty good debut book. There was a nice plot line with an engaging mystery that drew me in. While there were some issues, I feel like they should not keep anyone from reading the book and I believe the authors next book probably improve upon some of these critiques. It seems like she really put a lot of thought into the book and would definitely give an A+ on her effort! I am excited to read her second book in this serious to see what happens next!

Better than expected. The character development was actually really good. The tropes in the book prevented me from fully loving it, however, this is a solid plot with a solid idea. Definitely not a waste of an afternoon.Cant wait to read the next book.

This was a great start to what I hope will be an exciting series. Filled with mystery and magic, it's a great book to curl up with on a rainy day. The cast ensemble is wonderful, which each one worming their way into your heart at some point. I actually read this a year ago already and was glad to read it again. Not to mention I've been waiting for the sequel so I can find out what happens.